Joseph Lawler reports: President Barack Obama’s last year in office set a high watermark for new federal rules and regulations as the outgoing Democrat sought to leave his mark on the country through a “pen and phone” strategy.

The free-market think tank, which advocates lighter government regulation, tallied up all the new rules in its annual “Ten Thousand Commandments” report and concluded that rulemaking surged during Obama’s last full year in office … (read more)